The bandwagon is up and running and its advocates are inviting others to appreciate their clarity of vision regarding a ‘Premier League'. Most people in the NCU thought we had a Premier league already but the one being proposed now is where the clubs with cash basically breakaway from the rest of the cricket playing community and start their own Ulster League. Just to ensure everyone is aware of the proposals the idea is to have a Premier League of clubs consisting of North Down, Civil Service North, CIYMS, Carrickfergus, Instonians, Brigade, Limavady, Eglinton, Glendermott and Bready.

Some of the readers out there were under the impression that as the cricket community in Northern Ireland is quite small and it would make sense to be united. Not so. Others want to start a semi pro-operation as a stepping stone to the Ireland team. There is a general feeling that there does need to be a bridge between club and country and you have to assume it going to be a choice between elite clubs providing that gap or an Inter-Pro selected on merit. As usual the proponents of this elitist league describe themselves as ‘visionaries' and anyone who disagrees with them as ‘diehards'.

The Ulster league proposed by Clarence Hiles, who is an ex-Chairman of the NCU, excludes amongst others; Waringstown, Donemana, Strabane, Bangor, and Lisburn. All of them top flight clubs with a rich history of producing cricketers for Ireland. One would have to assume that they are not there because they failed some sort of financial test.

In fairness to the ‘elite' clubs mentioned the suggestions of a breakaway league aren't coming from them. Many of those clubs have shown what can be achieved by having a clear plan. Glendermott, Carrickfergus CIYMS and Derriaghy for example have come from the lower leagues and have shown that with a well run club and investment in facilities and infrastructure players will gravitate towards them as an attractive place to play. However do the advocates of this system honestly feel that those excluded clubs named above aren't ambitious as well? They simply have a different approach to fulfil those ambitions and judging by the evidence of history they haven't done a bad job. There is a lot of experience there on producing cricketers and will they continue to do so if excluded from the top table? Those Clubs do invest a lot of resources, (time, effort, money) developing youngsters and feel aggrieved when another club waltz in with the chequebook like a modern day Pied Piper to spirit those talented kids away. For Clarence to suggest that such an Ulster league would end player tapping and player movement I can only assume he has been out in the Barbadian sun too long!

In one sense it is fair to say that this semi professional system is already up and running. The North West has been running a league, not dissimilar to that proposed. The elite players have been getting a procurement of sorts for nigh on a decade. Most clubs but not all are involved in the practice. They also have no compunction on the standard of the Professional used either. Whilst there are still of lot of good cricketers in the North West, the game is in danger of being dominated by the overseas professionals and the old campaigners. Resources are more often spent poaching someone else's player rather than developing your own. This has resulted in the vast river of talented young North West cricketers being reduced to a trickle. The statistics back that assessment up too. A decade ago when the quick fix became rife players upped the ante and became more professional to match their new revenues. North West cricket was at the top of the tree in Ireland and they dominated the ISC for a few seasons. Little investment was made for the long term and slowly things started to stagnate to where we are today. I think this is what Peter Allen was alluding to on the forum when he said North West cricket was ‘shocking'. Scratch under the surface of Senior cricket and you find Intermediate level in poor health. But even in Senior cricket youngsters need opportunities to progress. Watching your Professional bat does not help your progress anymore than the couch potato watching the Test match on TV. Looking at the respective batting averages in the North West and NCU for 2007, the top ten in the NW were made up of 7 Professionals and 3 old hands. Contrast that with the NCU where 6 are locals and 4 Professionals. The top 5 Pros in the NW scored an astonishing 4499 runs between them and Raza only played half a season!

In an amateur league overseas players are restricted to one per team. In a new professional league why should this be the case? If clubs have the money why can't they have as many as they like? In Premier League football we have club sides like Arsenal and Chelsea who regularly field eleven non Englishmen so what's to stop local cricket club teams with eleven non-Irishmen? Is this what we want?

The conclusions I have drawn from all this are payment of players is a reality that is here to stay and that the quick fix solution is to the good of the individual club in the short term and to the detriment of the game in the long term. For clubs to sustain success they need that balance where investment is also made for the future. A successful company in business is always looking to expand its market, open up new opportunities and invest in research and development. In Ulster cricket we need a more considered approach with checks and balances to ensure all teams can compete on an even basis. There is no doubt that if we wish to pursue an Ulster League we need to ensure it has a long term future.

There is plenty to be gained by working together to improve the standards of Ulster cricket and we need new ideas and new thinking. We desperately need investment in facilities, infrastructure and development. The way forward for cricket in Northern Ireland is served best by working collectively and progress must be made on merit alone. Rich clubs always have an advantage over poor but they should earn the right to be at the top table. I have been giving this issue a lot of thought and would like to hear the thoughts of others, especially those who don't normally contribute, through the various forums. We all want to see local cricket progressing, North West and NCU. So guys lift your heads from your clubs, look at the bigger picture and tell us what you think?